Originally Posted by
EjustE
Stem, seatpost, bars, shifter and FD will cost at most half of what you are budgeting, maybe a quarter. It does not make sense to skimp on the fork (and the saddle). That said, a good source of a fork (and maybe some parts) might be a donor bike. Look around Thrift stores and yard sales and CL for anything big with 27 inch wheels. Lots of older Schwinns out there
Thanks for the advice. I have been looking for a donor bike. The initial problem with that approach was that I almost immediately found a tall frame '82 Voyageur SP in fairly good shape, rendering the whole '88 Le Tour project a lot less urgent!
Is it feasible to braze on some extra steerer tube if I find a donor with an otherwise good, but too short fork? that would open up my options hugely.
EDIT!
ok I did a bunch of searching in the Mechanics forum and the consensus there seems to be that extending a steerer is either expensive or very expensive, possibly not safe and in all but the pickiest of situations, not worth it. So I will rule that out.
Also I forgot to mention that by the time I got onto eBay last night, the auction for the Raleigh canti fork had ended. The winner paid $11 + $10 something for shipping.
I'll be keeping a closer eye on eBay (I do have an automated search running there), visiting the Working Bikes collective (they have tons of uses parts for sale) and continuing to look for a donor bike.